The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Funding call for schools as tables are released and city is in bottom three
Peterborough finishes third from bottom of primary school league tables nationally amid calls for increased funding – but there are success stories as some schools score highly on progress made by pupils with one - Winyates - scoring ‘Well above Average’
Acall for fairer funding for Peterborough schools has been made after the city once again finished near the foot of national education league tables.
The Department for Education released verified SATS results, and Peterborough only finished ahead of Bedfordshire and The Isles of Scilly (which had just 19 pupils.)
In total, 56 per cent of Peterborough youngsters hit the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared to a national figure of 65 per cent. However, this was an improvement on the 54 per cent Peterborough scored last year.
Councillor Lynne Ayres, Peterborough City Council cabinet member for education said a lack of funding was hitting the city hard.
She said: “The well-documented financial challenges that we face mean there isn’t the capacity there once was to invest in areas such as school improvement and staff development and there are fewer roles which support families.
“All of this impacts our ability to improve and is why it is necessary for schools to support one another in these areas. Only by working together will we see real improvement in the attainment and progress of pupils, which this school-led model looks to achieve. Across all partners schools, governors, local authority staff and others - there is a real sense of urgency in the need to drive change.
“The council has the third lowest funded education service in the country (out of 150 local authorities) which limits our capacity to support improvement.” The league tables revealed how individual schools in the city had done, with The King’s School finishing top. The tables also revealed a number of successes, and cllr Ayres highlighted some schools which had done exceptionally well.
She said: “We are pleased these results show an ongoing improvement in the number of children reaching the required standard in reading, writing and maths, rising from 54 per cent last year to 56 per cent. It is also great to see several schools improving their own performances, in particular St Johns, Winyates and Leighton.”
Colette Firth, executive head at St John’s Church School and Winyates, both of which finished in the top six for attainment – with Winyates the only school in the city to receive a well above average progress rating for read
ing, writing and maths – said work was being done across the city to drive up standards.
Mrs Firth said: “The two schools have been working very closely together, and it is working really well. We have a laser sharp analysis of where the children are in their education, so we can fill in those gaps. We meet with the Year Six pupils at the end of the year, and they say they have never worked so hard.
“We are also keen to work with other schools. Jonathan Lewis (director of education for Peterborough City Council) organised a meeting recently with more than 100 teachers and head teachers attending - our next one is in January. There is a real sense that schools want to work together and make a difference. It is working.
“For some schools finances are a huge issue, and it is difficult to make improvements if finances are tight. The head at Castor did a presentation called ‘school improvement on a shoestring’ so we are all working together.”
Miss Firth also praised the difference education charity Teach First had made to the school, helping recruit new teachers.
New Peterborough MP Paul Bristow said: “Results in Peterborough must improve. School standards in Peterborough must improve.
“I’ve already brought the Education Secretary to Peterborough to meet with the local authority to discuss what we need to do to improve school standards, but it will take a lot more work than bringing ministers to Peterborough.
“I want to visit every school I can possibly visit. We need to look very carefully at what we need to do to drive forward improvement.
“For some schools it is about demography, for some about money and for some about the areas they are in. In certain parts of Peterborough it’s about leadership.
“Fulbridge Academy get excellent results and it’s about discovering why they do it and others don’t.”
North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara added: “The Prime Minister has announced an extra £14 billion in funding for schools, including at least £5,000 a year per secondary school pupil and at least £4,000 per primary school pupil.
“Whilst this should go some way to help improvements, we nevertheless must recognise that it is not simply funding that produces results. There are a whole lot of other factors in terms of how the education system operates and the council needs to carefully consider how these can be improved.”